Quick report
- Red Flags
- Wind Loading, Collapsing, Poor Snowpack Structure
Snowpack
- Instability Comment
- <p>The storm and wind deposited snow from the last week were easy to identify and formed a cohesive slab in a wind affected area near ridge line on an East aspect (8,600'). In contrast, the underlying sugary/faceted snow was much softer and lacked cohesion. Several ECTPs with mod/hard loading were observed at the interface of these two layers. </p> <p> </p> <p>Throughout the day, our group observed nearly a half dozen collapses when breaking trail- a good reminder to get off the beaten path and seek out those obvious signs of instability. Perhaps these were failing on "Basil Facets", or perhaps more of the action was concentrated along the new snow/old snow interface-similar to our ECT results. </p> <p>Didn't get into a wind loaded aspect but the shear volume of snow that has been redistributed is readily apparent. Along ridges, erosion forms have up to 1m of relief and many West facing aspects look like they have been utterly blasted. This made for skiing that was "almost good". </p>